Container for hats



G. M. RICKUS CONTAINER FOR HATS Filed Nov. 1, 1949 3nventor Gea/ ge M. lQdc/(us Patented Feb. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PA'l'ENT OFFICE CONTAINER FOR HATS poration of Delaware Application November 1, 1949, Serial No. 124,787

6 Claims. I

This invention relates to a package for packing hats for shipment and storage without substantially marking or distorting the brims of the hats.

Heretofore in packaging hats, and particularly soft felt hats, for shipment and storage, difficulty has been encountered in that the hats which are supported by the brim have, when taken from the container, a ring on the brim adjacent the crown which is caused by movement of the hats on their supports. This movement also causes a distortion of the brim which is diflicult to remove, particularly where the hats have been stored for a period of time.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a package in which the hats are held against rotary and axial movement in the container irrespective of the position of the container. This is accomplished by providing hat supports and spacer members so correlated that the support is held in the box against rotation and the hats on the support are held against movement by cooperation of the adjacent support.

A feature of the invention resides in the structure of the box and the separate insertable elements therefor which may be stored in knockeddown form and be readily assembled to form a relatively rigid structure. Further, the package of the present invention can be made to accommodate any desired number of hats by assembling the insertable spacers and hat supports with a selected side wall.

In the preferred form of the invention the box is made octagonal so that it can be stored with a minimum of wasted space between the boxes and also the boxes may be stacked on edge if required.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal sectional View of the package with the hats positioned therein; and

Fig. 2 shows a horizontal sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings the package comprises a box having outer side walls ill, a bottom I I and a top or cover E2 of cardboard, fiber board, corrugated board or the like suitable box material. The side walls are provided with creases its extending longitudinally thereof so as to provide panels iilb. It is preferred to employ an even number of panels, eight being shown. It

will be readily apparent that such side walls can be connected and folded on any pair of opposed creases into a fiat wall section for storage. However, when it is ready to use the box, the side walls may be expanded to the position shown in Fig. 2 wherein the panels have a predetermined angular relation with respect to one another. The bottom -II is shaped to conform to the expanded walls and is secured by any suitable means to the bottom of the side walls such as by glue, staples, combinations thereof or the like. The top i2 is of the configuration of the expanded side walls and is formed with extensions which may be secured together as shown in Fig. 2 to form a dependent flange |2a to overlie the top of the side walls of the box.

The package illustrated herein discloses the packaging of three hats to a package. As will be pointed out, however, this can be varied with great simplicity as required.

After the bottom and side Walls have been assembled, a wide spacer i3 is inserted. This spacer is illustrated as a band or strip of light cardboard or the like having its ends joined by suitable fastening means 13a to form an oval having one edge engaging the bottom of the box and the upper edge supporting an insertable hat support It. The hat support comprises a flat piece of stiff cardboard, corrugated board or the like having the edges thereof shaped to engage the inner surfaces of the angularly related panels of the side wall to be held in place thereby against rotation. In the illustrated form of the invention, the support has an octagonal edge which is adapted to snugly fit in and engage all of the panels of the side wall. The support has a crownreceiving aperture l5 in the center. The hat support is also provided with a brim-engaging member l5 which is herein illustrated as located around the margin of the aperture 15 and comprises a shaped band of cardboard or the like light material interlocked with the edges of the aperture and having the edges [6a, Itb thereof projecting on opposite faces of the hat support and curved and split as shown in the drawing to provide a resilient brim-engaging member, the portion 6a engaging the brim of the hat adjacent the crown and supporting the hat thereby when the crown is in the aperture. As shown in Fig. 1 the height of the spacer I3 is sufiicient to hold the top of the crown out of engagement with the bottom of the box. A second spacer l1 formed similarly to spacer i3 is then inserted into the box to rest on the first hat support outside of the hat supported thereon. A second similar hat support I l having the aperture l5 and brim-engaging member i6 is inserted to rest on and be supported by the upper edge of the second spacer. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the second spacer and the second support are so correlated that the crown of the hat on the second support nests with the crown of the hat on the first support and the lower projection E6?) of the brim-engaging member engages the brim of the hat on the first support on the side opposite the supporting face and effectively holds the hat from movement by the light pressure applied thereto by the member I 6b. Another spacer ll is inserted to rest on the second hat support and a third hat support M is inserted to rest on the spacer. Here again the brimengaging member lfibon the third support engages the brim of the hat on thetsecond support to hold it against axial and rotative movement. The brim-engaging member lfia on the third support, it will be noticed, positions the brim of the third hat with relation to the cover so that the underside of the cover engages the same and the third hat is held thereby against axial and rotative movement.

Spacing means are provided between the third I hat support and the top to prevent axial movement of the support. While this may be another oval spacing band, it is at present preferred to provide spacing extensions I8 on the top hat support to extend upwardly and engage the under-surface of the top when the latter is in position to hold the top support in engagement with the spacing means thereunder.

Thus it will be seen that the supports and the hats thereon will be effectively held against axial or rotative movement in the box and the only pressure on the brims of the hats will be that applied by the light, resilient brim-engaging members on the supports. This pressure is insuflicient to mark the brim and since the hats cannot rotate the brims will not be distorted.

The present invention is of great versatility since by the use of the proper height side wall and/or the assembling of the proper spacers and hat supports therein, packages supporting one, two, three or more hats may be formed. For example, .in the event that only a single hat is to be boxed, the side walls will be of such a height that the top or cover of the box when in position will engage the upper face of the brim supported by a top hat support so that longitudinal movement of the hat, .as well as rotative movement of the hat, is prevented. Similarly, if two hats are to be stored, it merely requires the proper height for the side walls to position the second or top supports to locate the brim of the hat thereon in engagement with the undersurface of the top or cover.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the hat supports are securely clamped in position between the top and bottom by the spacing members and are held against axial movement as well as rotative movement.

Furthermore, it has been found that the engagement of the inner surfaces of the panels by the hat supports, which arespaced longitudinally of the panels, reen'forces the panels against collapsing or moving about the creases out of their predetermined angular positions and thus provides a very rigid package.

Since the bands, hat supports, tops, bottoms and sides may be all stored in flat condition, a substantial saving of storage space for empty packages is efiective.

Furthermore, the assembling of the boxes and the spacingand hat-supporting inserts is of the utmost simplicity so that they can be readily and quickly assembled by unskilled help into the required package for safely storing and shipping felt hats.

The assembled packages, particularly when of octagonal construction, may be stored without lost space between the boxes as is the case of round or ovalboxes and lost space at the corner inside the box when square boxes are used.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

l. A hat container including an octagonal box having a top, bottom and octagonally related side walls; an insertable octagonal hat support having edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of the side walls of the box and be held thereby against rotation, said hat support having a crown-receiving aperture and a brim-engaging member to engage the brim around the crown and support a hat thereon with the crown in the aperture; a separate spacer insert disposed beneath and positioning the support to hold the bottom of the crown spaced above the bottom of the box; and means extending between the top of the box and the support adjacent the edge and holding said support against axial movement in the box, said brim-engaging portion positioning the brim in engagement with the undersurface of the top to hold the hat against axial movement.

'2. A hat container including a box having a top, bottom and angularly related side walls; a hat support positioned within the box and having angularly related edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of the side walls of the box and be held thereby against rotation therein, said hat support having a crown-receiving aperture and being provided with a brim-engaging portion to engage the brim around the crown and support a hat thereon with thecrown in the aperture; separate spacer means disposed beneath the hat support to engage the support adjacent the edge thereof and position the support in the box with the bottom of the crown of the hat thereon spaced above the bottom of the box; and means extending between the top of the box and the hat support and holding said support against axial movement in the box, said brim-engaging portion positioning the brim adjacent the undersurface of the top to hold the hat against axial movement.

3. A hat container including a box having a top, bottom and side walls creased to form angularly related panels; a first insertable hat support positioned within the box and having angularly related edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of the side walls and be held thereby against rotation therein, said hat support having a crown-receiving aperture and being provided with a brim-engaging member projecting from the support and engaging one face of a hat brim around the crown and support a hat thereby with the crown in the aperture; a separate spacer band disposed between the bottom of the box and the first support and positioning the support so that a hat thereon will be located with the bottom of the crown spaced above the bottom of the box; a plurality of additional insertable hat supports positioned in the box, each'having edge portions cooperating with the walls to prevent rotation and'having a crown receiving aperture and a brim-engaging member projecting from the support to support .a

hat thereon by engaging one face of the brim around the crown; separate spacer bands disposed between the adjacent hat supports to position the supports so that hats thereon will be in nested relation, the brim-engaging member on the adjacent supports being located to engage the face of the brim of the adjacent hat on the face opposite to the face by which the hat is supported to prevent axial movement of the hats; and means extending between the top of the box and the adjacent hat support holding said supports against axial movement in the box, the brim-engaging member on the last-named support positioning the brim of the hat supported thereby in engagement with the under surface of the top to prevent axial movement of said hat.

4. A hat container including a box having a top, bottom and angularly related side walls; a hat support positioned within the box and having angularly related edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of the side walls and be held thereby against rotation therein, said hat support having a crown-receiving aperture and being provided with a brim-engaging member to engage one face of the brim around the crown and support a hat thereon with the crown in the aperture; spacer means disposed below the support to position the support and the hat thereon with the bottom of the crown spaced above the bottom of the box; a second similar hat support positioned in the box and having a crown-receiving aperture and a brim-engaging member to engage the brim around the crown and support a second hat by one face of the brim; a spacer band disposed between the two hat supports and positioning the second hat in nested relation with the first hat with the brim-engaging member on the second support engaging the brim of the first hat on the opposite face to the brim-engaging member on the first support to prevent axial movement of the first hat; and means extending between the top of the box and the second support adjacent the edge and holding said second support against axial movement in the box, said brim-engaging member on the second support positioning the brim of the second hat in engagement with the under surface of the top to prevent axial movement of said second hat.

5. A hat container including a box having a top, bottom and foldable side walls creased to provide a plurality of angularly related panels; a plurality of hat supports positioned within the box, each having angularly related edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of each panel to prevent unintentional movement of the panels from said angular relation and be held by engagement therewith against rotation therein, said hat supports each having a crown-receiving aperture and being provided with a brim-engaging member projecting from opposite faces thereof, one projection engaging one face of the brim around the crown so as to support a hat thereon with the crown in the aperture; and insertable spacer means disposed in the box and holding the supports against axial movement in the box with the crown of the bottom hat spaced above the bottom and the adjacent hats in nested relation with the first hat, the brim-engaging member on the adjacent supports engaging the brim of the lower hats to prevent axial movement of said hats, and the brim-engaging member on the top support positioning the brim of the hat thereon in engagement with the under surface of the top to prevent axial movement of said hat.

6. A hat container including a box having a top, bottom and side walls creased to form angularly related panels; a first insertable hat support positioned within the box and having angularly related edge portions to engage the inner surfaces of the side walls and be held thereby against rotation therein, said hat support having a crown-receiving aperture and being provided with a brim-engaging member projecting from the support and engaging one face of a hat brim around the crown and supporting a hat thereby with the crown in the aperture; a spacer band disposed between the bottom of the box and the first support and positioning the support and the hat thereon with the bottom of the crown spaced above the bottom of the box; a plurality of additional insertable hat supports positioned in the box, each having edge portions cooperating with the walls to prevent rotation and having a crown-receiving aperture and a brim-engaging member projecting from the support and engaging the brim around the crown and supporting a hat thereon by one: face of the brim; separate spacer bands disposed between the adjacent hat supports and positioning the hats thereon in nested relation, the brimengaging member on the adjacent supports engaging the face of the brim opposite to the face by which the hat is supported to prevent axial movement of the hats; and means extending between the top of the box and the adjacent hat support holding said supports against axial movement in the box, the brim-engaging member on the last-named support positioning the brim of the hat supported thereby in engagement with the under surface of the top to prevent axial movement of said hat.

GEORGE M. RICKUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

